The invention pertains to paddle boats, and more particularly paddle boats of the type including peddles pushed by riders to move a paddle which propels the boat through the water.
Small boats of the type including peddles, connected to a paddle, which an operator peddles to propel the boat through the water are well known. Despite the long time period over which these popular boats have evolved, it remains desirable to provide more versatile paddle boats which are easier to maintain and operate than those heretofore available.
One difficulty of known paddle boats is they are difficult to transport when they are out of the water. The paddles, which project outwardly to push the water, interfere with movement of the boat on land. Additionally, the paddles are typically flimsy, and thus easily broke if the boat is moved improperly on land, or when the paddle strikes underwater objects, such as logs and branches. The boats are relatively heavy and cumbersome and require a number of people to lift and transport them over land.
Another difficulty encountered with such paddle boats is they lack versatility in accommodating different numbers of occupants. Typically a paddle boat holds two occupants. Because the paddles are located in the middle of the boat, the two operators sit on opposite sides of the paddle, or above the paddle. When a single operator is in the boat, it is not balanced, and consequently will tilt to one side. If they did attempt to sit in the center, and thus straddle the paddle wheel, it is uncomfortable to the operator. If the operators are above the paddle, the height of the operator makes the boat top heavy, more cumbersome and is also uncomfortable to the operator. In either case, the users find the tilting of the boat to be annoying and unsafe, and consequently they will not use the boat unless they have someone to balance the weight distribution on the boat.